<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Afterlife by ushadys</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27246235">Afterlife</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ushadys/pseuds/ushadys'>ushadys</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Aged-Up Character(s), Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Post-War</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 23:41:39</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,305</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27246235</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ushadys/pseuds/ushadys</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Lucius knew it was only a matter of time, so he was ready when Oliver said, "I can't do this anymore".</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Lucius Malfoy/Oliver Wood</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Afterlife</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Oliver knew what he was getting into and knew which side he would fight on. He knew that at Hogwarts he would meet not only his old school friends, who would become his comrades-in-arms that night. Oliver saw him from afar: white hair, not as beautiful and neat as before, and an exhausted pale face. He didn't see Lucius raising his wand, he just saw him looking around in search of his son — dead or alive. Their gazes met for only a fraction of a second: Lucius seemed to have forgotten where and why he was. He didn't expect it. He didn’t expect Oliver going back to school, didn’t expect him going to war. They hadn't seen each other for months, and Lucius missed him every day of his miserable life. Some time ago, lying in bed, they suddenly started talking about the inevitable battle, and Lucius dropped the phrase that he had been scrolling in his head until now: “I don't care if you fight and on whose side. Just be careful". He didn’t care if Oliver would kill any of the Dark Lord’s supporters — the only thing that mattered was that none of the army of death eaters touched him. Even though Oliver's face was covered with blood — somewhere it was already clotted, somewhere it was his own, somewhere a stranger's — he was still alive, and all of the rest, Lucius was sure, was not so vital. Oliver was the first to look away.</p><p>"I will have to fight", Lucius had confessed to him once. "Too much is at stake".<br/>
"You mean your creepy ideas?" Oliver asked then. In the evenings, when they were alone, he used to lay his head on Lusius' lap, and Malfoy used to run his fingers through his hair.<br/>
"Not in this case. My ideas," Lucius chuckled bitterly. "Do you think they're mine? Nothing depends on me anymore".</p><p>Lucius knew that sooner or later Wood would leave him. He knew Wood would break up with him: he seemed just waiting for the right moment – he had a lot of reasons for leaving. Lucius had known this from the very second Oliver first saw the mark. Wood didn't say anything then, just pulled down Lucius' sleeve, covering the mark with a thick cloth, and hugged him, inhaling the smell of his hair. Lucius knew it was only a matter of time, so he was ready when Oliver said, "I can't do this anymore".</p><p>Harry Potter, considered to be dead, is already rising from the ground, and the death eaters, realizing the hopelessness of their lord's position, betray him, flee, apparate to safety. Lucius would like to be somewhere where he felt safe, but the one who was his own safety hasn't held his hand for a long time. Before fleeing, Lucius glances at the battlefield for the last time: wands flash everywhere, stones rumble, walls collapse, girls scream, and only Oliver Wood, standing at a distance, doesn't raise his wand, as Lucius didn't raise his one. Their eyes meet again, and Lucius has to make every effort to leave now, because if he leaves, perhaps one day he will see Oliver again.</p><p>The war ended quite recently. Barely had the wizarding community recovered, the Wizengamot had already begun holding hearings on the case of the surviving, former now, death eaters. Lucius was acquitted – and it was nothing short of miraculous. They referred to the fact that during the entire war he never killed anyone – he simply didn't raise his wand, remained an impassive observer, a pitiful pawn in the hands of a madman. He went back home devastated, and more than anything else he wanted to turn back the clock, to abandon all his youthful ideals so that they couldn't destroy his family. The Malfoys kept the marriage, but now they were lukewarm and cold to each other, and Lucius fully understood Narcissa and didn't blame her for indifference. They didn't like to talk about the war. Narcissa remembered the fear from which her knees trembled when she lied to the dark lord about Potter's death, and Draco simply, due to his age, couldn't cope with the horrors of the war. Lucius didn't like to remember that night, because all he remembered were those deep brown eyes looking at him with disappointment – they weren't judging, they were just sad.</p><p>He didn't hear the knock on the door and didn't see his elf bringing the guest. When they entered the office, Lucius' thoughts were somewhere in the distant past. Only a subtle, barely perceptible smell of such familiar shampoo brought him back to reality, so he lifted his head and faced such a familiar look from such familiar brown eyes.</p><p>"Hello", warm, confident, loud. Lucius rises. He's still taller than Oliver. He looks down at him, knowing that once Oliver was crazy about it. Wood nods to the edge of the table. "Can I have a sit?"</p><p>The conversation doesn't go well. Earlier, they could talk for hours on end about anything, but now  in front of him Lucius felt like a guilty boy. He would fall in front of him, he would kiss his hands in tears, praying for forgiveness only so that Wood doesn't despise him, so that he lives in memories of what they had, and knows not that Lucius who was now standing here, broken, destroyed and lonely, but that insatiable, gentle, soft and loving Lucius, with whom he once said goodbye. He would have fallen at his feet, even knowing that a hit would follow. They didn't stay alone for so long that they already seemed strangers to each other.</p><p>And Lucius falls. He falls, grabbing the hands of his boy. Tears cover his pale, tired face, and he sobs loudly, releasing all the emotions that he has been hoarding inside for months. He waits for Oliver to get his hand loose and disappear like a pleasant dream, but Oliver only squeezes his palms tighter.<br/>
"I'm not your enemy," Lucius pleads. He is kneeling, as Oliver once used to stand in front of him. "I'm not".<br/>
"I know". Oliver gets up and steps closer, stroking Lucius' head. Hair is completely dry to the touch – nothing remains of his former Lucius. "And you never were".<br/>
"So hard to be away from you", Lucius gets up, looking at Oliver with watery eyes. "I cannot ask you not to think bad of me. But if you can, live on and remember only what we had good".<br/>
Lucius is burning from the inside. The words lump in his throat, and he flinches as Oliver's warm hand gently covers his cheek.<br/>
"Did you miss me?" he asks.<br/>
"More than anything".<br/>
And Oliver kisses him, as gently and weightlessly as never before. Lucius' lips are dry and chapped, they haven't been kissed for a long time. Lucius thinks he won't survive the second Wood pulls away, because he obviously was kissing him goodbye.<br/>
"It's all over", Oliver reminds quietly, almost in a whisper. "We are fine. Not quite all right, but we'll handle this. If you want me to leave, I'll leave – forever, or to return one day, but if not, I'll stay". Lucius shakes his head briefly, and Oliver puts his hand on his chest, running his fingers over the buttons of the shirt. "Because I miss you too".<br/>
"Will you actually stay?" Lucius asks, curling his lips in a faint, but sincere smile for the first time in a long time.<br/>
"I'll stay", he promises. Lucius kisses him, just as immaculately and tender, and Oliver smiles back at him. So loved brown eyes sparkle with such a familiar light, and Lucius involuntarily grins. "I'll stay. And we can talk about it later, but now", Oliver pushes Lucius away from him, grabbing onto his own shirt collar, "take it off".</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>